No, that’s not true. But if you listed to all of the hype since spring
you’d be forgiven for thinking so. It’s been years since a rookie has
been talked up as much as Wieters has been. Even his teammates contributed to the circus.

But a funny thing happened on the way to immortality: Wieters has proved human.

Twenty-one games into his big league career he’s at .243/.300/.405.
Yesterday he dropped a ball at home plate, turning a sure out into a
run for the Nationals. Overall, he’s thrown out just two of 15 base
stealers and has committed three errors in less than a month. As Dan
Connolly of the Baltimore Sun notes, Wieters isn’t even the best rookie on his team. In fact, he may not even be the second best:

The way things are going right now, Wieters (.234 average, two
homers, six RBIs) is not the Orioles’ best candidate for Rookie of the
Year. Outfielder Nolan Reimold (.286, 9 homers, 20 RBIs) is, with
pitcher Brad Bergesen (5-2, 3.76 ERA) also ahead of the backstop.

Connolly believes that Wieters will start hitting and playing better
defense soon. So do I, because the kid is just too good not to. But his
early struggles are an excellent reminder that baseball is a really
hard game with a learning curve to which almost no one is immune.

Former Mets catcher Johnny Monell signed a contract with the KT Wiz of the Korea Baseball Organization, per a report by Chris Cotillo of SB Nation. The 30-year-old originally struck a deal with the NC Dinos on Thursday, but the deal appeared to fall through at the last minute, according to Cotillo’s unnamed source.

Monell last surfaced for the Mets during their 2015 run, batting a dismal .167/.231/.208 with two extra bases in 52 PA before the club DFA’d him to clear space for Bartolo Colon. While he’s had difficulty sticking at the major league level, he’s found a higher degree of success in the minor league circuit and holds a career .271 average over a decade of minor league play. He played exclusively in Triple-A Las Vegas during the 2016 season, slashing .276/.336/.470 with 19 home runs and a career-high 75 RBI in 461 PA.

The veteran backstop appears to be the second MLB player to join the KT Wiz roster this offseason, as right-hander Donn Roach also signed with the club last month on a one-year, $850,000 deal.

Brewers’ right-hander Phil Bickford received a 50-game suspension after testing positive for a drug of abuse, per the Los Angeles Times’ Bill Shaikin. This is the second time Bickford has been suspended for recreational drug use, as he was previously penalized in 2015 after testing positive for marijuana prior to the amateur draft.

Bickford was selected by the Giants in the first round of the 2015 draft and was later dealt to the Brewers for lefty reliever Will Smith at the 2016 trade deadline. He finished his 2016 campaign in High-A Brevard County, pitching to a 3.67 ERA, 10.0 K/9 rate and 5.0 BB/9 over 27 innings.

Two other suspensions were handed down on Friday, one to Toronto minor league right-hander Pedro Loficial for a positive test for metabolites of Stanozolol and one to Miami minor league outfielder Casey Soltis for a second positive test for drugs of abuse. Loficial will serve a 72-game suspension, while Soltis will serve 50 games. All three suspensions are due to start at the beginning of the 2017 season for each respective minor league team.

We are very disappointed to learn of Phil’s suspension, but we fully support the Minor League Baseball Drug Prevention and Testing Program and its enforcement by the Commissioner’s Office. Phil understands he made a mistake, and we fully anticipate that he will learn from this experience.